Markus Granlund knows he’s come to the Edmonton Oilers to do the grunt work.
“Your teammates in the locker room will tell you you’re doing a good job. That’s what matters,” Granlund said after Tuesday’s morning skate. He’ll play his first pre-season game with the Oilers Tuesday night in Vancouver.
Granlund, 26, was signed to a one-year deal on July 1. While he did pot a career-high 19 goals with Vancouver in 2016-17, he’ll be most valuable to the Oilers if he can prevent goals.
The Oilers penalty killing was 30th in the NHL last season at 74.8 per cent. They’ve signed a lot of players who they hope they can help, like Riley Sheahan, Josh Archibald and Joakim Nygard.
Head coach Dave Tippett already sees Granlund emerging from that bunch.
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“He anticipates plays, understands the structure of how we want to play,” said Tippett. “In these meetings, he understands what we’re trying to do. He’s a good, smart player and has some skill to go along with it.”
The Oilers expected lineup in Vancouver is:
Benson – McLeod – Hebig
Granlund – Cave – P. Russell
Jurco – Marody – Currie
Gambardella – Malone – Peluso
Nurse – Larsson
Samorukov – Bouchard
Manning – Bear
Starrett
Catch the Oilers and Canucks on 630 CHED with the Face-off Show at 6 p.m. The game starts at 8 p.m.
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